Healing Him, Healing Her
by kitkatieisme
Summary: A 2,000 word TOKO oneshot! She breaks, and he heals her. But then the cycle is turned upside-down and she's holding him and she's thinking that she could get used to this. And he's thinking that maybe, just maybe, its time for a change.


**A/N: Weell I can't exactly explain this one. I LOVE Toko and there is absolutely not enough of them. So, this idea just popped into my head around 1 AM last night and I wrote it out so sorry if there are any mistakes. I was trying not to fall asleep.**

**Disclaimer: I do** (not)** own anything or anyone you recognize and I definitely do** (not) **own ATLA. Don't sue me!**

**Enjoy!**

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Mai and Zuko. They were THE power couple of the fire nation. Maybe even the whole world. Everybody swore they could already hear the wedding bells whenever they walked by. Especially Mai and Zuko themselves. They were happy on their little fairytale. Everyone was just waiting for Zuko to pop the question. And absolutely nobody doubted that Mai would become their future Firelady. Until, what everybody still calls it today, "The Scandal."

Toph and Zuko. They were best of friends. They had grown closer and closer after the war had ended when they realized that everybody else in the Gaang had paired off with each other, leaving to start families. And yes, Zuko had Mai, but Toph had no one. She had been the odd one out. There was no one left for her to fall in love with, at least no one that wasn't already taken. And Zuko couldn't find out the truth. And Zuko never felt anything more for the young, earthbending girl. At least, that's what he claimed. Until, what everybody still calls today, "The Scandal."

So Toph had gone to Zuko after another failed attempt to reconcile with her parents. They had met up outside the palace, for Toph said that palaces were too luxurious and that luxurious was what her parents wanted. Not her. So they met at Uncle Iroh's teashop after hours. She cried. He comforted. It was always the same. It was always a secret from Mai.

"Why can't they accept me?" she would cry. "Why don't they love me enough to love me for who I am?" And she would let the tears fall, sobbing for hours into Zuko's chest. And he would stroke her hair and smile and yes, sometimes he would tear up a bit himself because he knew for a fact that he was the only one that the mighty Toph Bei Fong would let her walls down around. He was the only one who she would show her true emotions to. But not all of her true emotions. Never all of them. Because she promised herself, for her sake, for Mai's sake, and most of all for Zuko's sake, that she would never show him love.

"They just don't want to accept how strong you are. That you don't need them," he would soothe. He would take her hair out of the bun she usually wore atop her head, letting the hair fall down her back like a torrent of rain. He would stroke her hair and whisper, "Because you, Miss Bei Fong, are the strongest person I know." And he would hush her until the sobs turned from painful cries to harmless hiccups. And even then he would keep comforting because he needed to lure his strong little warrior out of her misery and help her put her walls back up. Because if he was honest, he liked being the only one allowed to tear them down and search what's inside.

So they would sit in silence in the candlelit room with him humming to her and her hiccupping and rebuilding her castle. And that's the way it always went.

But one day, a peasant firebender was on a stroll long after the light had fallen beneath the earth. He saw the shop; with it's candles lit it was such a contrast to the blanket of darkness he had accustomed himself to on these late nights. He got curious and peered through the window. What he saw shocked him.

EVERYBODY knew that their firelord was involved with a young lady by the name of Mai, but here was Zuko with a young girl who definitely _was not Mai_ curled up in his lap, her face resting against his chest as she calmed herself down. The villager watched on in horror as Firelord Zuko leaned down to press a soft kiss to this young girl's cheek.

The kiss meant nothing to Toph or Zuko. Or almost nothing anyways. At least, that's what they tried to tell the warm fluttering sensations on their stomachs. It would be so much easier that way. But the kiss was just a ritual. Just a way to heal. But to anyone else? The kiss meant one thing. It meant that, simply, their Firelord was kissing a girl that _was not Mai_.

So the villager ran down the street, stumbling mercilessly as the darkness enveloped him and waking everyone as he ran into his house shouting about what he'd seen. Throughout the night, most of the village had come to silently observe their lord and this...this _earthbending_ girl. And it was true. They fell asleep in the tea shop that night, Zuko pulling Toph's much smaller body against his, neither of them knowing they had become a public spectacle.

The next day, the scene last night had hosted was the only thing discussed.

Mai had been walking in the village, her hood up so as not to draw attention to herself. She was worried because Zuko had not come back to the castle last night, but figured he had spent the night at the teashop. By the time she reached the Iroh's place, however, Zuko was already back at the castle gardens walking in lazy circles hand in hand with the one and only Toph Bei Fong. Healing. Healing him. Healing her.

It was on her way back that her world began to tumble down around her.

"Did you hear about Firelord Zuko?"

"And that Bei Fong girl!"

"Yes, yes. I was there myself, you know."

"Really? So it's all true then?"

"Of course! Saw it with my own two eyes!"

"I can't believe it!"

"I know! But its true!"

"We may have a new Firelady soon…"

And Mai was _breaking_. "What?" she asked, whipping off her hood, eyes wide. "What are you speaking of? Zuko? What about Zuko?" She turned hastily to the man who claimed to have been there. "_What happened?_"

She didn't care that people were stumbling over themselves to bow. "My Lady! I'm so sorry My Lady!" She wanted to know what Zuko had to do with anything. And slowly, she broke. The man told her of everything he saw, and everything that had traveled through their gossipy mouths like snakes. That's what these words were. Snakes. And these…these _snakes_ were biting at her, slowly, painfully, until she was gone. She didn't thank the man. She didn't cry or scream. She just ran. She ran and ran back to the palace, streaking into her room faster than any of the knives she threw. And _then,_ and _only_ then, did she cry.

Zuko found her that night. He tried to kiss her hello, but she turned her head away. She wasn't going to continue this.

"Where were you last night?" she demanded.

"At Uncle Iroh's."

"WHY?"

"I missed my uncle. Is that so wrong?" Voices and temperatures were rising. Zuko was lying. Mai was breaking.

"Tell. Me. The. Truth."

"I am! I went to see my uncle!"

"NO YOU DIDN'T! DON'T LIE TO ME!"

"WHY WOULD I LIE TO YOU?"

"THAT'S WHAT I'M TRYING TO FIGURE OUT!" Mai dropped to the floor, defeated. She was done with this. This drama. This lie. How long had this been going on? She doesn't think she wants to know. "Where is the Bei Fong girl anyways?"

"W-what?" Zuko stuttered. Mai wasn't supposed to know about this part. She never was. How does she know?

"You heard me."

"Weeell…she's up in my room." Mai raises an eyebrow. Delicately. Fiercely. Finally letting her world crack and fall down around her.

"She's in your room." Zuko scratches the back of his neck uncomfortably.

"Yes."

Mai suddenly stands up. "Then we're done here."

Zuko shoots up, panicking. "Why? I-I love you!"

"That's what I thought. Honestly."

"But I do!"

"Then why do you run around behind my back!"

"It wasn't like that!"

Mai shoots around and glares at him and it honestly hurts him more than any of her knives ever could. This wasn't supposed to turn out like this. She would give him one last chance. "Can you honestly tell me that it meant nothing?"

This was supposed to be easy. Zuko would say no. But he looked into her eyes and he couldn't. He just couldn't say it. "No. No I can't tell you that."

"Then we're done here."

And Zuko let her leave.

Zuko was breaking.

And for the first time, Zuko went to Toph for comfort.

"I just can't believe she left me just like that. Over nothing," he pants between his tears. And she can't believe that this boy in front of her is breaking. This boy who kept her grounded when she was struggling was in tears. And it was her turn to heal.

Since she's so much shorter, she sits down in his lap like she does when he's healing her. And she shushed him and cried for him. She puts her head into the crook of his neck and whispers comforting words.

She comforted him like he comforted her. "If she leaves you for helping a friend, she couldn't have been the right one for you," she whispers, running her fingers through his hair.

"She left because she asked if it meant nothing and I said no," he finally confesses. She freezes, her heart hammering. And she realizes something. She wanted it to stay like this forever. Just the two of them. Healing. _Us against the world,_ she thinks, and she smiles.

She runs her hands through his hair again and he takes her hair out of the pile sitting haphazardly above her head. She traces his scar, and flicks his ears with her fingers.

And then things start to get out of hand.

She traces his lips with her finger, he pulls her into his lap. She straddles his waist, he strokes her cheek. And before either of them know what's happening, his lips are on hers and she's got her fingers tangled in his hair. And this is just the way they like it. They break apart, their foreheads leaning against each other's desperately fighting to meld together. To make sure the other feels the same way. And they both come to the same realization.

_I think this is my favorite way of healing._

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**A/N: Not quite sure how I feel about this one. I think its complete, but if anyone cares I might add a small epilogue.**

**PLEASE review! I'd love to know what you thought about my story! Thanks so much!_  
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